It strikes me that no one has mentioned two of the all time great classics, probably because one is French, and the other Russian: La Jetee (1967) by Chris Marker, and Stalker (1979) by Andrei Tarkovsky.

Curiously, I have just been running over my movie lists, and have updated them a bit. (I am constrained by the fact that I don't watch movies very much at all, not have I ever).Note: slightly further updated 14 July 2013 (added some Bergman & Fellini films).

Both of the films you mention are on my updated lists, though we should note that calling La Jetée a "movie" is stretching a bit, as it is only 28 minutes long.

My current lists are divided into four categories; all categories mean the equivalent of a book worth at least one star--the divisions are into degrees of proability, because for many I have to go solely by reputation and various critical write-ups. That said, my current list (alphabetical within divisions, ignoring The/A/An) is:

* Note that the Art Carney "Harvey" is available on DVD, but only as an off-the-air recording (though said to be of passable quality).

By no means are even the ones I have listed as "definite' (meaning I've seen them and think so) of equal quality: some are one-star and some are five-star, but I don't feel like getting into such nice differentiations on such short lists. Also, some of these are serious films and some are comedic, which I do not think lessens their merit.

I'd be interested in some opinons on whether "8½" or "The Fisher King" really qualify as "speculative-fiction" films (or on any other films of merit that one might not think of as specfic but that could qualify). Some of the old masters' work (Bergman, Fellini, and that lot) might fit; I need to look over their lists of works.

Lord of the rings movies are the best science fiction movies, in my opinion, they are very well produced and the story is great but it's my opinion, I know not everybody thinks the same as me, but let's respect opinions.gelesen